


A Very Turtle Christmas

by Fanficprincess05



Series: Tales from Donnie's Lab [7]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Gen, momentary apriltello
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 14:02:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8983108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fanficprincess05/pseuds/Fanficprincess05
Summary: A drabble about brotherly bonding around Christmas time :)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!
> 
> I am so sorry for any lack of update on anything whatsoever, I have been quite busy this month of December. However, I was able to get this one out in time for Christmas, I had been thinking about it since like August ;)
> 
> I won't make promises on anything else right now, but hopefully within the first week or two of the new year I will have a couple of things out on my AO3 page. Here's what I'm going to be working on:
> 
> 1) Chapter 8 of Slashed and Destroyed  
> 2) The first chapter (potentially a prologue) of my Dagcup (HTTYD) fic, Shoot an Arrow Through My Heart  
> 3) I have two other projects that I have been thinking about for YEARS and YEARS, that I want to get rolling. One is a Digimon fic that contains ALL of the characters from the five seasons, and then I have a YugixKaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh) fic that is REALLY pressing on my mind these days to be written! So expect something soon, hopefully :)
> 
> I hope you all have a great Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) and a very happy new year! See you in 2017!

                I’m currently on my laptop running scans of different components of New York City in order to create a giant tapestry of the area we’ve dedicated our life to defending. I feel, after all these years and all of these threats, that it might be a good tool to have. Although we know the city almost like the back of our hands, I’m sure there are some secret hideaways and pertinent information we have missed and have yet to find. Waterways, sewer systems, electrical outputs, house layouts, highways and even garbage truck routes; all find a way onto my laptop for further plotting onto my newly created giant New York City map.

                A set of hands are placed on my desk behind my laptop, and I trail my eyes up the arms that hold them there to find Raphael staring back at me, on his face a look of both appreciation and frustration. The look confuses me and I just stare at him.

                “Donnie, while I really admire all of your hard work and determination in getting us the most up to date information of the place we live in, I’m afraid I’m going to have to shut it all down tonight. For the _whole_ night,” he growls as I go to protest, and shuts the computer lid closed despite my complaints. I sit there and cross my arms, silently fuming at him.

                “What’s the big deal?!” I snap at him, annoyed that he has cut off my work process and probably erased any train of thought I had concerning my current project. _I’ll never get those thoughts back,_ I think to myself sadly. I don’t even know if my current work has saved its progress, something that worries me in the back of my mind. Raph brings his nose right up to mine and slaps my cheek lightly, smiling at me.

                “Do you even know what day we are, nerd?” He questions lightly, chuckling at my ignorance. I frown, actually forgetting _when_ we are, only pausing during my day to consider _where_ I’m at. I shrug my shoulders and he tsks me, shaking his head in mock disappointment.

                “It’s Christmas Eve, dummy!” He raises his hands in the air with almost a hint of excitement, and for one small second I see his inner child peeking through. “April, Casey, Leo, Mikey and Splinter are all in the kitchen waiting to chow down on some of the most amazing food I’ve ever seen; I don’t know how Casey and April did it, but they’ve outdone any past meals ever cooked in this lair.” I can figuratively see his mouth watering. “But we’re waiting for you, moron! Quit holding us up, come be social and celebrate the holidays with your family instead of holing up in this dungeon of yours!”

                I grin at his enthusiasm and begin to feel my inner child come out. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, even though I sometimes have to be reminded to celebrate it. I love everything about it – the decorations, the gift exchange, the food, the time to share with my family and not have to worry about Kraang or Shredder or Purple Dragons. Just us, pigging out and living life as if we have nothing holding us down. Of course, before April and Casey came along, we pigged out on pizza and our Christmas tree was a decrepit plastic one the size of my hand that was carelessly thrown down into the sewers by someone at some point in time. Since their arrival, the lair has been decorated every year with streamers and tinsel and lights, with a Christmas tree that rivals Master Splinter in height right in the middle, glowing brightly with a multitude of colors. How they got that down here, I’m not sure I’m willing to ask. I’m excited to find out exactly what’s been cooking; upon realizing what time it is, the fact that my stomach is growling incessantly has become apparent to me.

                I stare at my laptop in disdain, knowing I should at least finish downloading the information about the most current garbage truck route. I gesture to Raph and am about to explain all this, but he huffs in impatience, rolls his eyes and comes around the lab desk, grabbing me by the tails of my ninja mask and literally pulling me out the door to join the others.

                                                                                                ~

                “I am so full, even pizza wouldn’t tempt me right now,” Mikey grumbles as he throws himself down on a chair in front of my lab desk. My other two brothers come in slowly, looking like overstuffed pigs and plop down on the floor, their cheeks flushed and smiles on their faces. I sit at my desk and shake my head at them, humored by all of their behaviours on this night.

                “As if you wouldn’t devour a whole pizza if it was sitting in front of you right now,” Raph states, and Mikey contemplates this thought.

                “Do you happen to have one on hand so we can find out?” He jokes, and Leo rolls his eyes.

                “Maybe you guys should have slowed down on the turkey then! Then you wouldn’t feel so sluggish and you wouldn’t be having a tryptophan slump,” I say, amused, and the three of them just stare at me.

                “Says the one who failed to kiss April under the mistletoe,” Leonardo points out, and the three of them giggle. I can feel my cheeks flushing at the thought. I fold my arms and huff in mock anger.

                “Sure, laugh it up you guys, let’s all make fun of the nerd for failing to get the girl,” I grumble, which only causes them to laugh more.

                “We should write a movie about that, the plot sounds great,” Leo laughs.

                “But what would we call it?” Raphael asks, and the room is silent in thought.

                “Never Any Love, Actually?” Mikey chuckles, and I roll my eyes.

                “Beauty and the Sewer Beast?” Leo mentions, and that actually elicits a slight chuckle from my lips. I try to hide it in a cough so that they don’t notice, and I think it works.

                “The Sound of Donatello Being Rejected?” Raphael adds, and I scoff at him. Yes, I did place a sprig of mistletoe by the entrance prior to her coming, in the hopes that I would catch her under it when she was leaving. And I did catch her under it as I was leaving. Knowing that she noticed it too, I leaned in, hoping for at least a peck on the cheek but silently wishing for a full-out kiss, only to feel her hug me instead. Boy, was that awkward.

                Looking at the holiday cheer on the faces in front of me and the absurdness of the situation that played out with the mistletoe, I begin to laugh and decide to join in and play their little game.

                “She’s Just Not That Into Me?” I say, and my brothers laugh and cheer and congratulate me on the perfect movie title.

                I get up and go to my cupboard, pulling out three neatly wrapped gifts of different sizes, and as I turn with them I see Mikey’s eyes light up and a grin come on his face.

                “Gift time!” He screams and jumps up, joining Raph and Leo on the floor. I sit and complete the circle, holding out my gifts to each individual brother, who take them with a look of excitement on their faces. It’s tradition that we do a gift exchange on Christmas Eve, because on Christmas Day crime abounds, and so we keep watch all day. Christmas Eve is _our_ holiday, so that we are able to protect _everyone else’s_ holiday the following day.

                “Me first!” Mikey exclaims, ripping the paper off the gift so fast that I wonder why I put any to begin with. I hear a large gasp and some _woahs_ coming from Leo and Raph. “Donnie, you are my _hero!”_ he exclaims as he jumps at me, enveloping me in a hug as he wags his new toy: a beautiful handcrafted skateboard with a makeshift booster at the end of it for extra speed when needed. I feel proud of my creation; it’s a whole lot of Mikey, with a little bit of me wrapped up inside. We’ll be with each other wherever he goes.

                Raphael opens his gift in one giant rip, essentially splitting the paper down the middle and pulling out either side. I am actually impressed at this skill and raise an eyebrow at him, to which he shoots me a grin, flicking the wadded up paper at my face in the process. When he looks down I can see his brow furrow in confusion and his eyes water slightly as he stares at me. Leo and Mikey get on their knees to see what the fuss is about and stare at me as well with their mouths slightly open. In Raph’s gift is a small cage with a little lettuce leaf placed inside. I reach behind me and pull out his _real_ gift, and I can see his resolve soften despite his efforts to harden it.

                “Merry Christmas, Raph,” I grin as I hand him a small turtle exactly like Spike once was, a bow wrapped around his middle. Leo and Mikey fawn over it as well, and Raph hands him over gently to Leo before running me down in a bear hug.

                “I don’t even know how you managed to get him, but this is the best Christmas ever!” He says into my ear, showing a slight hint of emotion before sitting back down and composing himself, placing his new pet in his lap.

                “One rule: Absolutely _no_ mutagen around that thing,” Leo says, and everyone laughs.

                “What are we going to name him?” Mikey says, and Raph just glares at him.

                “What do you mean, _we?_ You have no say in any of this!” He exclaims, and Mikey gives puppy dog eyes.

                “But I’m so good with names! What about the Shellraiser, or Ice Cream Kitty, or Mondo, or –“

                “Crush!” Raph yells out, causing Mikey to jump up in shock.

                “Like in the movie Finding Nemo? Really?” Leo laughs, and gets a punch in the arm. “Hey, it’s _your_ pet, name it what you want,” he puts his hands up in defeat, and Raphael just smiles proudly at his new turtle.

                “Are we going to get to my present now?!” Leo huffs in mock exasperation, and opens up his present with delicate hands, making sure not to rip it like the other two monsters did.

                “Twenty years later..” Mikey moans, and Raphael snickers.

                “Hey, at least _somebody_ appreciates the time and effort I put into wrapping my gifts!” I say, and Leo sticks a tongue out at Raphael in my defense. Raphael just rolls his eyes.

                “Donnie? Care to explain?” Leo holds up a USB key and looks at me, awaiting an answer to the meaning of my present. I grin, feeling the proudest of this one and all of the work I put into it.

                “Well, I know how important being a great leader to us and an excellent student to sensei is to you, and I know how hard you strive to be the best in everything you do…” I begin but am cut off by Raph’s smirking. I shoot him a glare and continue. “I have spent _months_ compiling everything on that USB for you. Every teaching, every lesson, every ninja technique, every mantra. From all areas of the world, from all kinds of teachers, including some from Sensei himself. Some were not hard to find, and yet some I had to give up my soul for. Even when Sensei is gone, and if we all separate sometime, you’ll always have those to draw inspiration from…” I am suddenly cut off as a pair of arms wraps around me, whispers of “you’re so cheesy” and “you’re an amazing brother” simultaneously playing in my ear. I smile and hug him back, and as we reform the circle I look at my brothers and their joy concerning the new gifts they have received and my heart is full. I love my family.

                Suddenly a humongous gift is shoved under my nose and the three of them grin at me.

                “Obviously, we didn’t forget to get _you_ something,” Leo says, and they aren’t subtle as they urge me silently to open my gift, awaiting my expression.

                I think back to past years and what I’ve gotten, and laugh internally at the thought. Spare junkyard parts for my new creations. Pizzas (from Mikey, obviously), art stuff for painting, cans of mutagen and even spare Kraang parts. You name it, and I’ve probably gotten it. Curiosity hits me as I wonder what random creation I have received this year.

                My heart skips a thousand times as I pull of the wrapping paper and reveal an almost brand new centrifuge, one that I have been wanting for months, that I had seen in one of our missions and that existed in only one location..

                “How did you get this?” I whisper in shock, and the others giggle with excited joy.

                “Literally nicked it from Stockman’s lab when he wasn’t looking,” Raph says, and the others laugh.

                “That’s a story in itself, and we’ll have to tell you it someday. Maybe not today though, I don’t want to lower the value on your new toy,” Leo grins, rubbing his hands together. I feel my throat tightening, which is never a good thing, since getting emotional in front of my brothers just asks for a public mocking.

                “Guys, Donnie is gonna cry!” Mikey points at my face, which is currently turning red and splotchy as my eyes water. I get up and put my new favorite thing on the desk in front of me, turning my back to my family as I try to recompose myself. I rub my nose and turn back, only to find myself enveloped in a group hug as we all gather together.

                “Merry Christmas, turtles!” Leo says, and we all begin to yell Merry Christmas, jumping up and down.

                We break apart, grabbing our new gifts and running off to examine them. Raph and Leo and Mikey will do their own gift exchange later, I’m sure, if they even bothered to get each other anything. I sit at my desk and plug in my new centrifuge, my eyes lighting up as it whirs into motion. Beside me sits Leo, plugging his USB into my laptop. I watch his face, full of concentration, as he takes in everything being said from Sensei on the computer. I can almost see his brain thinking and growing right in front of me. Mikey zooms around the lab on his new skateboard, and although he knocks into a few things and begins to trash parts of my lab I can’t help but smile at his happiness as he floats around on his skateboard. Raph is to my other side, feeding his new pet and rambling on about all they’re going to accomplish together in the New Year.

                These are my brothers, and although we may fight sometimes and mock each other, I love them more than anything. Christmas would not be Christmas without them. And only one thought runs through my head tonight as I look around: _This has been the best Christmas EVER._


End file.
